The Shining World Of The Seven Systems
by MelodyPnd
Summary: The three children, a red-haired girl, a blonde boy and a black-haired boy, looked at each other before running again toward the gate of the city. Toward their future. The Citadel, overlooking the plains of the Wild Endeavours between the Mountains Of Solace and Solitude. Gallifrey, The Shining World Of The Seven Systems.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! This is a one shot, for the moment. If you guys really like it and would like a whole fanfiction about it, then I'll see if I can fulfill your wish and think of something :)**

 **If you come here just because you tripped over your own feet, then I have another fanfiction which is called Time and Space, so don't hesitate to go to my profile and have a look at it :) **

**Then, apologies: I've tagged the Eleventh Doctor in this one shot, but there's actually not really the Eleventh Doctor, it's almost characters-lite, and since I had to tag a character I just put Eleven and OC.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who which belongs to BBC but I own the story I create from it.**

 **PLEASE READ:**

 **I do recommend you to read this one shot with Doctor Who - A Secret He will Take to the Grave - Extended - Series 7 Soundtrack Gallifrey theme by Oswin Pond on Youtube playing in background** **as I wrote it while listening to it.**

 **Enjoy and please let me know what you think of it :)**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

The Shining World Of The Seven Systems

Overlooking the red plains highlighted with trees, whose silver leaves were shining under one of the two stars lighting this world, laying its golden red rays on them making them glitter like diamonds on a velvet red sea, there was a great glass globe containing one of the mightiest cities present on this rays of light were meeting the glass, and like a prism, it drew colorful patterns on the ground.

A small breeze was making the grass and the leaves whisper some mysterious messages that they would be carrying to the other side of the world.

Whispers and mysteries was all that was known from this world. Only hints scattered and heard throughout the universe, nothing never ever blowing away the mysterious mist surrounding this mighty world.

Secrets, that must never be told.

Making the herbs rustle, a young girl, a child, was swiftly slipping through them. Running while a crystal laugher was escaping her lips. Her long red hair, her shiny green eyes, her pale skin and her long gold, dark red dress was making her look like she was the personification of the nature around her. Her hair and the ribbons tied to her dress were floating in the small breeze as she was still running, still laughing.

The picture of elation itself.

Behind her, a blond-haired boy was running after her, wearing the same colors. And behind him, another boy, black-haired and dressed all the same.

They ran and as she stopped, looking up to the mighty city they caught up with her, the three of them standing under the shadow of a silver tree. Their hair like fire, ice and night.

On one side of the city, a mountain snow capped with red turning into green towards the top stood. On the other side, was another mountain which peak was a shade of crimson and brown.

Small insects were flying around them, jumping out of the grass trying to arrive at a new destination, their wings fluttering, shining in the red sunset.

Two large moons were already up in the sky. One of them was so bright in its copper-coloured hues that it was shining even during the day. Looking down at the planet with a benevolent and protective eye.

The orange sky was already shining with the stars from the constellation surrounding the planet, like a reflection of the silver trees on the ground. Thick volutes in gold to crimson hues were making the stars play hide-and-seek with their eyes. But the reflection on the glass dome, like in a mirror, made it look like it was containing the whole of Space and Time. All the universe in a single, fragile glass globe, that could break at any moment, creating the whole of creation in an instant.

In an instant, this would be where it all begun.

The three children looked at each other with a bright smile before running again towards the gate of the city.

The Citadel, overlooking the plains of the Wild Endeavours between the Mountains Of Solace and Solitude.

Gallifrey, The Shining World Of The Seven Systems.

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 **I do hope you liked it, please leave a review or drop me a PM to give me your impressions :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello people! After a very long absence (thanks univerity and many projects) I'm coming back to give you this story that will only be a few chapters long. I hope you'll enjoy it!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

Chapter 1

The wooden door of the barn creaked, letting three small figures run inside, the last rays of the sunset projecting tall shadows on the dusty ground and their innocent laugh slowly fading as they were out of breath. The girl with the long red hair climbed onto a haystack and sat there, looking down mischievously at the two boys.

"I won!" she exclaimed, making the black-haired boy pull a pouty face as the blonde one was smiling at her, his green eyes sparkling, echoing hers.

"That's not fair! Jace let you win anyway!" the pouty one said, pointing his finger to the blonde.

"Oh come on Kyrill!" Jace exclaimed, amused by the fact his mate always wanted to win, and if he did not, he would always make a fuss about it. They were only eight year old children after all. He climbed onto the haystack with her as Kyrill let out a sigh.

"What is it?" asked the girl.

"Nothing, it's just… I don't like that name… 'Kyrill', just doesn't feel quite right."

"Well, we don't like ours as well but you know, we have to wait until we're big enough to change it." said the blonde.

"Yeah, plus you can't really disapprove it, it has been given to you by the Matrix so… we have to accept it." she said, shrugging. "It's this or revealing our real names… which we're not allowed to do."

"Yeah I know…" Kyrill said simply, knowing it had to be this way.

The door of the barn opened again, letting a woman with curly hair appear.

"Oh, I thought I'd find you here you three!" she said with an amused smile. "Come on, it's time to get home, tomorrow is a big day!"

The girl and Jace glanced at each other before saying:

"We'd rather stay here."

"Why don't you want to come inside with the other boys and girls? Look, even Kyrill is coming. And you know it gets quite chilly at night here."

For a second, Jace hesitated. He knew that the girl was always getting colder before anyone else. He did not want her to feel cold so he jumped on the ground, ready to follow the woman and Kyrill.

"Come Ariya, you'll freeze if we stay here." he said to the girl.

She nodded and she followed them, back to the Capitol where all the other boys and girls that had been reunited for the next day were.

* * *

"Ariya! Come on, wake up!"

"Mmmh…"

The girl turned around in her cover, hiding under it. Jace, pulled it away and shook his friend by the shoulder.

"Come on! We have to get prepared, it's the day!" he said. "How comes you always need so much sleep!?"

The day? The day! She quickly got up from the bed and grabbed the long dress she had been given for the ceremony. Dark red and golden, with high circular Gallifreyan embroidered on it. It was beautiful, she thought, very beautiful.

She put it on, not caring much about her friend who sat on the bed, before turning around like a little princess and asked:

"How do I look?"

"Amazing." Jace answered with a smile, his green eyes shining.

They both joined the other children, waiting to be taken to the ceremony.

After a while, a tall man wearing the High Council robe with the great round golden headset encarved with high circular Gallifreyan came to them.

"What a horrible hat!" whispered Jace, making both Ariya and Kyrill chuckle.

There was maybe forty children for this session, all of them wearing the same robe. The man spoke up, making all the children listen in silence, impressed:

"Children of Gallifrey, welcome to the Capitol, the Citadel of Gallifrey. My name is Dayra. Today is an important day, it is the day you will be presented before the Untempered Schism." he started. "This is a crucial ceremony that will decide your future among the Time Lord society. You will be called to come and look inside the Untempered Schism, and depending on the result, the High Council will appoint you to your Chapterhouse in order to integrate the Academy and start your formation."

All the children nodded and seeing they all understood what was going to happen, the man took them to the Untempered Schism.

They entered a huge room with a very high arched ceiling. Complex engravings decorated the crimson walls and the copper and golden arches. The crimson floor was shimmering in the warm light with copper sparkles under their feet, and on each pillar could be found the seal of Rassilon. Their eyes wide, the children were looking around them at this marvellous place: none of them had ever seen such a beautiful place.

Jace glanced at Ariya: her red hair made her look, once again, as though she was the personification of her surroundings, her green eyes shining like two emeralds with a hint of blue complimented by all the red around. For a second, as they were getting closer to the Untempered Schism, her pale skin seemed to shimmer with a dull golden glow, but it faded very quickly. Blinking, Jace thought it was the reflection of the decorations around.

They all gathered a few steps away from the tall circle standing in the middle of the room and opened on the Time Vortex. The Untempered Schism.

A stone in the ground, round and marked by the seal of Rassilon was just at the foot of it.

The five members of the High Council stood in a line to the right of the Schism before Dayra joined them as the sixth. A few seconds later, seven women dressed in red and gold with a veil on their hair came in and stood by the right of the Schism, silent.

Suddenly, the members of the High Council bowed with their oversized hats as a man, wearing a way more richly decorated headset and robe entered the room. He had a metal glove on his left hand and a staff in his right, and as he overlooked the children, they realised it was the Lord President Rassilon and also bowed awkwardly.

Dayra stepped forward and, standing side by side with the Lord President, he activated his bracelet that projected a list of names in front of them.

"Let's begin." only said the Lord President. He hit the ground with his staff four times before Dayra called the first name.

Name after name, the children would step forward and stand on the stone before the Untempered Schism. They would look inside for a moment before turning to the High Council that would appoint the child to his or her Chapterhouse, and then, the child would walk out of the room, a bit dizzy.

"Kyrill, from the House of Oakdown."

Kyrill came forward, glancing one last time at his friends before stepping on the stone. After a few moments, he turned to the High Council, seeming away and dizzy.

"Prydonian Chapter!"

He walked out of the room, like a robot, his face livid. Seeing their friend in this state, Jace and Ariya looked at each other, worried, but they did not get the time to share their thoughts as Dayra called:

"Ariya, from the House of the Jade Dreamers."

Trembling a little, she stepped forward. The seven women who had not moved since the beginning of the ceremony suddenly looked at her, making the little girl feel even more uncomfortable: there were only a very few members of this House. She awkwardly stepped on the stone and looked over her shoulder to Jace. He could see in her eyes that she was afraid. She looked at her feet before taking a deep breath and looked up, inside the Untempered Schism.

The whole of Time and Space before her, inside her, her within the Vortex, all the possibilities appearing in a flash before her eyes, some she already knew, some she ignored. The Vortex took over her, filled her and completed her, in a second that felt like eternity until a far, very far and faint echo called her name, bringing her back from the other side of the Universe.

Like in a dream, she only heard Dayra claim, with surprise:

"P… Prydonian Chapter…"

Members of the House of the Jade Dreamers were never integrated to the Prydonian Chapter.

And as she automatically left the room, she barely heard him call:

"Jace from the House Lungbarrow."

Arrived in the room receiving the new initiates, she merely noticed Kyrill in one corner, holding his head before her vision shrouded. It felt as though something was pushing inside her head and as though her body was burning from the inside.

"Ariya…" she heard faintly.

She turned around, discerning Jace coming toward her. She lifted a hand to reach him but she felt herself falling backwards. Like in a slow motion, Time was altered, and in a second that felt like eternity, she fell to the ground, unconscious before touching the red floor.


	3. Chapter 2

**Here comes Chapter 2!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

Chapter 2

A sensation of cold made its way up to her consciousness, far in the darkness. She heard her name being called, faintly, as though it was an ethereal whisper coming from the other side of the Universe. But it was not the name provided by the Matrix, it was calling her real name. How was it possible?

She frowned before lifting her heavy eyelids, blinking a few times for her eyes to get used to the orange light coming from the outside. She took in the informations about her surroundings which she did not recognise: red-wooden furniture, red bed sheets and a giant bookshelf filled with books and little glass phials containing coloured liquids. That was a hell of a personal library, she thought.

She jumped in surprise as her eyes finally met the worried face of Jace. The cold sensation was coming from a humid cloth he had placed on her forehead.

"Jace?" she asked, her voice cracking a little as she took the cloth off of her head.

"Hey there." he said with a gentle smile. "You reacted pretty bad to the Schism. I proposed to take care of you and Kyrill."

"What happened? Wait, Kyrill? Kyrill is feeling bad?"

"Well, when I joined you guys, you passed out. The governesses took you to your new Chapterhouse room and then Kyrill started to complain about a headache, so he's also resting in his room."

Ariya sat up and was about to get out of her bed when Jace stopped her:

"Wow, wow, wow! Where do you think you're going young lady?"

She rolled her eyes with a smile and grabbed her clothes.

"Don't speak like an old man Jace! I'm okay now, let's go see Kyrill."

The young boy sighed. After her collapse, Ariya had been burning from an inexplicable fever. Gladly, he had managed to bring her temperature down at last, but he was still worried about her. When he had tried to take her pulse, it did not feel right to him.

The thing with Gallifreyan children was that, even if they truly could be children and behave as they were supposed to, considering their age, they were also way more advanced and mature than Earthy children, for instance. At age eight, Gallifreyan children already had an impressive amount of knowledge and could sometimes behave as though they were older. And Jace had enough knowledge to take care of his ill friends, but he would have to look in the books to understand why Ariya's pulse was not right.

Ariya took off her nightie and put on her Academy robe, the one they had to wear now as part of the Time Lord Academy.

As Jace was observing her, concerned, from the corner of his eyes, a glimmer caught his attention, making him look directly at her. She was turning her back from him, and before the fabric of her dress fell down and covered her back, he saw, swirling on - or under? - her skin, golden and copper volutes that seemed to form ephemeral circles. He frowned a bit, leaning closer, intrigued. But as she finished putting on the robe, she tottered a bit, feeling quite dizzy. A shiver running along her spine made her tremble a little for a few seconds before, as though nothing happened, everything was back to normal.

Smiling at Jace, she said joyfully:

"Let's go!" before grabbing his hand and ran out of the room.

It was as though her moment of dizziness had not existed, Jace noticed. It was not her ignoring it and thinking "it's ok, I'm ok", no, not at all, it was as though she completely forgot it just happened.

He put all these weird little events in a corner of his mind with the firm intention to study them later, and led her to Kyrill's room. When they entered, the bedroom was plunged in the dark: all the curtains had been pulled and in the very dim red light that was filtering between them, they saw Kyrill, sitting on his bed and holding his head with his hands.

"Kyrill...?" Ariya shyly asked.

He looked up, darting his piercing blue eyes at her.

"Kyrill are you okay?" she asked.

"My head…" he whimpered. "It's beating, endlessly since yesterday, it's horrible, it's hurting!"

It was like a hammer was hitting his head over and over again since he looked inside the Untempered Schism. He did not know why it was there, but it was, and it was hurting.

Jace and Ariya stayed with their friend for a while, trying to make him feel better but there was nothing much to do: he only needed rest.

* * *

"And this is why it is useful to be able to shield your mind when you're scanning someone else's mind. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Borusa." the children of the class of the Deca answered all at once.

The teacher Borusa that tutored these children nodded, letting them know they could go.

It had been a few months since they had started their formation now.

Jace and Ariya went out of the room, and were chatting, waiting for Kyrill - who was now feeling better - when suddenly the little girl let out a high pitched surprised scream that echoed in the corridor before Jace placed his hand on her mouth, pulling her close to him.

"Kyrill!" he whispered, a disapproving look on his face.

The black-haired boy was now laughing, amused by the prank he had pulled on her. To be honest, he enjoyed scaring her, she was _so easy_ to scare.

"Oi, the ginge, shut up!" said a voice.

Uh-Oh…

A boy, taller than them, was coming to them with two other kids. It was Trovic and he was not the nicest around the Academy.

He grabbed Kyrill by the collar of his robe and said, mocking him:

"So, still hearing voices, Kyrill?" before throwing him to the ground as though he was only a ragdoll. He then turned to Ariya, his next target. It was not the first time Trovic was bullying them. In fact, since their first day, and everyday, he would do something to them. "You're a Jade Dreamer, you have nothing to do in the Prydonian Chapter because you are too stupid to, aren't you?" he said, getting closer to her.

Jace knew what would happen next, because Trovic had already done it once. And only once, even though he tried, every time, to pull her long red hair again. Because Jace, stepped in between.

"Oh there he tries again to save his little friend. How cute. How stupid." Trovic said, grabbing Jace by the collar.

He knew what would happen next: Trovic would hit him in the stomach once, while Kyrill would take Ariya back to her room, safe. Oh he did not mind. It hurt, yes, but he did not mind if that meant she could get away without being hurt. Because no one was allowed to hurt her, not Ariya, his Ariya.

Ignoring Trovic, he turned his head to her, smiled and said, as though all this was just a game:

"Run."

* * *

"So you're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing, I'm getting used to it." Jace answered, drinking the glass of water she was handing him.

She smiled and leant in, kissing his cheek as a 'thank you', making his green eyes sparkle in the light of the two copper moons that bathed her room.

"You're always here for me, and always will be, even in centuries." she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, one day, far in the future, we'll run together and you'll always be there for me." she said, shrugging, making him frown a bit, confused.

"I… I don't mean we won't, but you seem so sure we will, how would you know?"

"Because I do know."

That was it: once again she was a mystery to him. Sometimes, she would say things, things about the future, about other planets, things she said she knew to be true because she had lived them, even though she never left Gallifrey. Fortunately for her, she would only say those things to him, otherwise the other children would mock her more than they already do. She was very clever, very very clever, she would never answer wrongly to a question, but as part of the House of the Jade Dreamers, she was considered as unworthy to be in the Prydonian Chapter. Though her House was one of the Founder Houses of Gallifrey, they had very little power and were, most of the time, ignored.

"How could you possibly know, Ariya?"

"Because I remember." she said. "I remember everything, all my past lives. Well, they are my future lives, but my past, it's a bit… Timey-wimey."

"Timey-wimey…" repeated the young boy.

Ariya came to sit on her bed, in front of him. They liked to do this, just sit in bed and talk for hours about their dreams, science, history, other worlds, everything and anything.

"I've had many lives before this one."

"But, you've never regenerated, have you? You were born here, like me, like Kyrill, like everyone."

"I think…" she started, hesitating. She knew, as she remembered, she had foreknowledge and that she could not let too much out. "I come from very far in the future, I was different once, and I had to do something very important that made me fall back here, on Gallifrey." As she saw his puzzled look, she smiled. "I can't say much to you, Jace, it would be dangerous and you know it."

The boy nodded, understanding. Of course he understood, he was a young Time Lord, this was part of the stuff he was learning everyday.

"So that's why you know things about the future and such. Because you lived it."

"Yeah… But sometimes I haven't, sometimes it's just… dreams. Or visions. But I can feel they're not just dreams." she said. "I can feel it. I can feel how time is flux and changing depending on the probabilities around those dreams."

He smiled to her:

"You really are a Time Lady."

"Oh no I'm not." Facing a puzzled look again, she added: "I'm just plus Time Lord. I am Human."


	4. Chapter 3

**Hope you guys enjoy :)**

 **Melody - x.**

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Chapter 3

 _Ten years later…_

Jace and Ariya were walking down a corridor of the Academy - both wearing their ceremonial robes, red and golden, as always - when suddenly, without a single move that foreshadowed his intentions, he pulled the girl in his arms, protecting her.

"Ah dammit Jace!" exclaimed another young man with black and sticky-uppy hair: Kyrill.

Jace was now a young man as well, tall and thin, with just enough muscles. His hair had turned darker becoming brown and he - well, in fact, Ariya - would always cut them a bit, just enough to give him a very classy boyish look, bringing out his jawline and eyes. He was very handsome in her eyes. But she knew what she was doing, and whenever she was doing his haircut she would smile, thinking of hundreds of years in the future.

Ariya who, by the way, had become a beautiful young woman, as Jace thought while admiring her delicate features with her shining green eyes. She still had her red hair falling on each side of her face. She had kept them short in a pixie bob haircut for a few years as they were teenagers but she was letting them grow back and they were now at neck length. He liked her with this haircut.

Jace was used of Kyrill scaring her every now and then since they were children and was trying to protect her whenever he could from his silly pranks. Kyrill was enjoying scaring and tricking others a bit too much to Jace's liking.

They all took the direction of the Panopticon. This was going to be the first time they ever step inside the Panopticon which was used by the members of the High Council. A legend said that below, was secretly held the Eye of Harmony, a star ripped out of its orbit and placed in a permanent state of decay, put there by Rassilon: this would be what allowed the Time Lords to engineer time travel, powering the Tardises.

The three young Time Lords were buzzing from excitement as much as nervosity and, in fairness, it was justified: this was the day!

Exchanging a look, they took a deep breath and entered the room, joining the rest of the Deca. The large and circular room was made of turquoise stone, encrusted with copper flakes that made the walls and the floor shimmer in the little light that just allowed them to see there were other young Time Lords around them. Six pillars were circling up the Panopticon, drawing an hexagon. On the top of each pillar was a little alcove lit by the lamps and topped with the seal of Rassilon with a different color for each of the Houses of Gallifrey sieging at the High Council.

Soon, the dreadful golden hats appeared in the alcoves as the members of the High Council entered and a thud suddenly echoed in the room, making all the whispers stop. A sudden beam of light flashed, enlightening the young people that could see more of the room now: on a catwalk that was following the walls was standing Lord President Rassilon with Borusa, their tutor.

"Children of Gallifrey." started Borusa. "You have started your formation at the Time Lord Academy ten years ago. As now all aged eighteen, you have earned the right to give up the name the Matrix gave you at your birth and choose the name you want to be called by." He paused for a moment, looking, very seriously, at each one of his Deca students. "This name is a name you choose, it is a promise you make to yourself and to the whole world, so choose it wisely."

Of course, all of them had been thinking about this for years, and although some of the Deca were not quite sure about it, Jace, Kyrill and Ariya knew exactly what name they wanted to go by. Borusa started to call each of his students for them to step forward and tell the name they chose, before getting back to the circle of young Time Lords.

Soon enough, as they were not many, he called Kyrill.

"Kyrill, from the House of Oakdown."

The young man stepped forward, at the center of the hexagon, joining his hands and darted his determined blue eyes to Borusa and Rassilon.

"Speak your name, young Time Lord."

"I choose to be called… The Master."

Without letting anything appear on his face, Borusa touched the holoscreen in front of him to register the name.

The now Master stepped back to his place, giving a satisfied smirk to his friends.

"Jace, from the House of Lungbarrow."

Discreetly squeezing the hand of Ariya, he then stepped forward and took the ceremonial position that the Master had taken before.

"Speak your name, young Time Lord."

Ariya could see how he was standing tall, proud of what he was about to say, how much he was implying himself in this. She knew that by choosing this name, he will also choose a way of life.

"I choose to be called the Doctor."

An almost unnoticeable smile stretched Ariya's lips. The Doctor was born, for real. The Doctor, her Doctor.

Borusa, on his hand, had a little mocking smirk while he registered his new name: Borusa never really liked him that much, he was always hard with him. As he finished, the Doctor came back, giving a little wink at Ariya that made her heart skip a beat.

"Ariya from the House of Jade Dreamers."

It was now her turn to step forward. At the center of the hexagon, under the beam of light, she joined her hands and looked up, ready. She knew what she had to say, she had always known.

"Speak your name, young Time Lord."

"I choose to be called Melody." she said calmly.

As she said the name, she felt peace, like a fresh gush of air in her veins. She was not feeling complete, not yet, but slowly, step by step in her life on Gallifrey she was gathering the missing pieces of her own self that had been scattered throughout the Universe, along the Doctor's timeline.

Blinking a few times, she realised she could get back with her friends and stepped back between the Doctor and the Master, as her new and original self: Melody.

* * *

 **Listen to :** **Doctor Who - The Singing Towers of Darillium - The Husbands of River Song Unrealeased Music by Oswin Pond on Youtube while reading this.**

The sky, deep and dark, was lit up by stars, like flickering diamonds from the nearest systems, along with the two moons gravitating around Gallifrey. The bigger of the two was laying its copper beams on the plains of the Wild Endeavours, bathing the Citadel in a warm halo that made the city in a glass globe look like a pearl on a red velvet sea, dotted with fluttering blue and yellow fireflies. A soft breeze was making the leaves of the silver trees shimmer in the dark, and whisper a soft and soothing song with mysterious lyrics that were full of secrets.

Two shadows sitting under a tree near a lonely barn were turned toward the Capitol. The Doctor looked at Melody sitting next to him in the grass: her pale skin looked ethereal in the moonlight, she was like an apparition, a nymph, as the breeze softly ran an invisible hand in her red hair while her green eyes were now dark, being the sky itself. The stars were shining in her eyes as she looked at them. Or was the sky reflecting her gaze? Whenever he would look at her, she would always be the perfect incarnation of her environment, so much that sometimes, he wondered if she was even real.

As the wind made the trees sing again their soft lullaby and lift her hair, her skin glowed in the reflection of the glass globe, light seeming to caress her skin, swirling… Swirling?

The Doctor blinked as he had caught the shimmer he sometimes would catch swirling on her skin, discreetly.

Feeling his gaze scrutinizing her, she turned her head away from the magical view to look at him, trying to identify what was wrong. He only gave her his nicest smile, putting this phenomenon in a corner of his head.

Melody smiled in return. She had been quite surprised as, growing up into a young adult, the first Doctor appeared to grow being the same as his eleventh incarnation she had met hundreds of years in the future, before turning into the old grumpy grandad face she had always known, back in her universe.

Now his future face made sense.

They both turned their eyes toward the wonders at their feet, getting lost in the pure melody of nature, in the surreal beauty of the night landscape.

The breeze made her shiver, goosebumps appearing on her skin. He noticed, as he always did, and placed an arm around her shoulders to allow her to curl up against him and protect his dear secret human-plus from the cold, but wonderful, nights of Gallifrey.


	5. Chapter 4

**Credit for lyrics goes to Florence & The Machine.**

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Chapter 4

The woods were shining under the two stars, burning bright and high in the sky of Gallifrey, as if they were a river of sparkling diamond that could have blinded anyone passing by. Under the glittering shadow of their foliage, three figures were making their way in the rustling grass, laughing.

Just as when they were children, the Doctor, the Master and Melody were chasing each other in the forest near the Citadel, not very far from Lungbarrow, the Doctor's House.

"Ha-ha! Gotcha!" exclaimed the Master, laughing out loud as he jumped on her, taking her to the ground as they both fell in the grass. They both laughed, the Master's blue eyes sparkling, as a glimmer from the leaves met his gaze when he looked down at the girl.

"Hey, be careful!" exclaimed the Doctor, joining them, a hint of worry in his green eyes. And a bit of jealousy as well, he had to admit it.

"Oh don't worry Doctor, she's not made out of glass!" he answered giving him an amused smile. "Plus you can't break a Time Lord that easily, don't be a killjoy, mate!" he added, tickling her sides a bit, making her laugh, the crystal clear sound of her voice drawing a gentle smile on both of the boys' lips.

The thing was, she was not entirely a Time Lord. He did not know how much of Time Lord abilities she had - even she was not completely sure about it - but he thought her body was human, more fragile, more… breakable. And she did not need the uncontrolled strength of a young and fiery Time Lord. However, the Master did not know about that, it was a secret between the Doctor and Melody. She was his secret, the first he had after his real name, his secret and mystery.

He sighed and came to lay down next to them, the girl being in the middle of the boys, her hair merging perfectly with the red of the grass. He turned his head toward her and looked at her as she was observing the foliage making a glistening arch above them. They could hear the birds chirping between the branches, sometimes perceiving their green-blue tails and wings fluttering here and there. Funnily, they reminded him of her eyes, her beautiful green, with a hint of blue, eyes, always sparkling with curiosity or amazement. Seeing the world through her eyes was so much more exciting and wonderful… She looked so surreal to him, unreal even, and every time he wondered if she was real or just an hallucination, he would touch her, her warm and soft skin reminding him that yes, this girl that embodied perfectly his planet, his home, was real and standing next to him. Always right next to him.

He looked down at her hand lying in the grass and awkwardly reached for it, slipping his fingers between hers. But as his skin touched hers, golden volutes briefly drew circular patterns on her skin, as though his contact generated it. He had already seen those on her skin appearing without making a contact with her, but this time they were clearer, brighter, and he understood - though he had not the time to read it - that it was high circular Gallifreyan.

Surprised and confused about this he looked up at her to only meet her smile, her sweet smile. She had not noticed the writings shimmering on her, she never did, only he did. Smiling back at her, his brain was working, listing everything he had read in the books, but there was no trace of this phenomenon anywhere, and he certainly could not take the risk to talk about that to Borusa: if they discovered she was not from this world and a hybrid of human and Time Lord, who knows what they would do to her?

He will understand one day, he thought, even if it had to take him centuries.

* * *

 _There's a drumming noise inside my head_

 _That starts when you're around_

 _I swear that you could hear it_

 _It makes such an almighty sound_

 _There's a drumming noise inside my head_

 _That throws me to the ground_

 _I swear that you should hear it_

 _It makes such an almighty sound_

 _I ran to a tower where the church bells chime_

 _I hoped that they would clear my mind_

 _They left a ringing in my ear_

 _But that drum's still beating loud and clear_

 _I run to the river and dive straight in_

 _I pray that the water will drown out the din_

 _But as the water fills my mouth_

 _It couldn't wash the echoes out_

 _I swallow the sound and it swallows me whole_

 _Till there's nothing left inside my soul_

 _As empty as that beating drum_

 _But the sound has just begun_

 _As I move my feet towards your body_

 _I can hear this beat it fills my head up_

 _And gets louder and louder_

 _Louder than sirens_

 _Louder than bells_

 _Sweeter than heaven_

 _And hotter than hell_

A slight knock on the door made Melody turn around to look at the wooden panel. A little and happy smile came across her lips before she hid it behind a neutral face. She lifted her hand and with a graceful wave of it, the door, a few steps away, opened. How she loved this trick! As the Time Lord society was deeply involved with psychic - whether it be technology or communication or anything - many stuff would be working psychically. Like the doors for example. Psychic lock, very useful: a lock that cannot be picked.

But as the door opened, a slightly surprised look hinted on her face.

"Master…?" she asked to the black-haired young man leaning against the door frame. It was not very often that he would come to her room. Generally it was the Doctor, and in this case, she expected the Doctor to be standing there. The Master darted his blue eyes at her and smiled.

"We should go, you surely don't want to be late, do you?" he said, holding out a hand to her. "You look very beautiful." he added. And he thought what he said. Tonight was the ball night in honor of them entering the Time Lord society, since they chose their names: they were not considered as children anymore.

As he was looking at her, the beating in his head started to hammer louder than usual, starting to make his vision tremble. Not tonight… He blinked out of his little trance as she slipped her hand in his, smiling:

"Thank you."

They both headed to the great hall, joining the other young Time Lords of the Academy for the night they have heard of for so many years! Searching among the crowd for the Doctor, they did not see him arrive from the opposite side. Under an arch, at the top of the few stairs overlooking the hall, he saw them, not very far away. But most of all, he saw her. She was wearing a long dark red dress with golden details that was bringing out her best features: the pale and smooth skin of her neck and cleavage, two red and golden veils falling from each of her shoulders, framing her bare back and making her look like some kind of divine. And hell he would worship her.

The males, on the other hand, were wearing darker red suits with only a thin golden line at the wrists and collar. And a few high circular Gallifreyan writings on the shoulders. To be honest, he had been so relieved they did not have to wear those damn hats!

" _Turn around."_

A little smirk curled his lips, making him look like a mischievous child as his green eyes sparkled looking at her becoming still before slowly turning around, her eyes finally meeting his. A happy smile enlightened her face and she ran to him, throwing herself in his arms. He caught her, giving her the spinning hug she - and he - loved before carefully putting her back down. He raised a hand and touched her head before leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Inside her head echoed a beating, four beats beating fast and she knew that he was letting her listening to his hearts. This was his way to tell her he found her beautiful and was happy to see her. They had this connexion, since they were children and had started to learn about psychic and telepathy with Borusa: they would train together and it quickly became their secret language. They did not even need to touch each other to make contact now, but he liked to do so as he had found out that the way to make full and deep contact with her was to touch her head and - or - kiss her forehead. Actually, he would force her to sleep like that: she maybe was plus Time Lord, but she still needed more sleep than them, even though she tried to stay up to not miss anything.

He took her hand in a gentlemanly way and they walked back to the Master, chatting excitedly about the night a-coming. Finally their tutors appeared and Borusa stepped forward, being the one speaking:

"You have now chosen your names and the words you want to live by, making a promise to yourself, to Gallifrey and to the whole of Time and Space. Let's celebrate tonight your entrance in adulthood and may your lives always be prosperous!"

The young Time Lords cheered and a very melodious music filled the richly decorated room. It was a ball night and it really looked magical: banners with the seals of each Chapterhouse were hanging from the complex arched ceiling made of thin copper sculpted into intricate shapes, merging with a projection of galaxies and stars slowly rotating, making it look like they were dancing in the middle of the universe as golden dust was swirling here and there in the air, depending on their moves.

Magical, it was magical.

Amazed, Melody looked at the firsts who dared starting to dance. Time Lords danced! And not only did they dance, but they danced to something she knew because it existed back in her world.

"A waltz? Time Lords dance… the waltz?"

"Yes." the Doctor smiled. He leant in and added into her ear: "But not any kind. I know on Earth they usually dance a three-quarter time waltz, but here on Gallifrey… it's four."

As he finished giving her this information, the Master stepped in front of her and hold out his hand, asking her for a dance, a smirk on his lips. They were going to start the collective dance: everyone was to dance and they had to switch partners during the dance.

After briefly glancing at the Doctor, she accepted to start the dance with the Master. Lucky her she knew how to dance, she thought.

They headed to a free spot in the room under the intense gaze of the Doctor in which could be read a hint of worry… and jealousy. He already went to pick her up at her doorstep, he had expected to have the first dance with her, but nevermind. They were friends, that was okay, he had as much as him the right to dance with their friend.

As the music started, the whole room moved at once: a ballet of young souls celebrating with joy this new step in their lives. The Master and Melody were waltzing among them with grace, him driving the routine very well.

 _There's a drumming noise inside my head, it starts when you arrive…_

The beating in his head became louder and clearer as he looked into her eyes, sweeter than heaven and hotter than hell as their feet moved along with the music. The beating became so loud it almost hurt him, hammering his whole soul within his body. It would start, whenever she was there, sometimes almost inaudible, but most of the time hammering until the pain would drive him mad. But he resisted running away to hide because this was his moment: he was dancing with her, holding her in his arms and he knew, he already knew, that this was all he will ever have. They waltzed together, both of them being very good dancers and impressing the others around, the Master enjoying every second of this moment, his moment, until that moment when she left his arms to gracefully land in another man's ones, gone, forever, the beating becoming even more loud.

Unfortunately for her, Trovic came in the way, but in a heartbeat the Doctor stepped in between and sweeped her off of her feet, taking her into the waltz, taking her into an adventure as he will always do: grabbing her hand and run, saving her, always. He smiled at her playfully as they gracefully turned round and round around the room like two butterflies fluttering around. They were radiating so much happiness and complicity that every couple crossing their way would stop for an instant, looking at them, admiring the link between the two young people that seemed so surreal, as though they were just one soul in two bodies. They got lost in each other, green in green as they forgot everything around them, being the only ones waltzing in the middle of the universe, dancing among the stars that shone in her eyes, her being the whole of Time and Space. With a single look she had the power to set him on fire, and as their feet moved with ease, he pulled her in closer just to enjoy feeling her heart beating against his chest. The golden dust around her only added to her looking like a divine in his eyes, her golden-shimmering skin discreetly drawing ephemeral patterns around her eyes, on her neck, and - he knew it - under his fingers on her back. At this precise moment, if there was only one thing he was believing in, it was her, his dear secret and mystery. They danced, like no one ever saw young Time Lords dancing. As the music sped up, they swirled and turned and waltzed until they remained the only couple dancing in the middle of the ballroom, being the two suns litting up the room. And as the music stopped, reaching both its climax and end, they became still in the middle of the room. He was holding her as though she was a fallen angel and she was clinging onto him as if her life depended on him, both panting out of breath, but still lost in each other's eyes, in each other's souls, in their own universe.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 _Seven years later…_

"Melody."

Her name echoed in the long copper-stoned corridor. She stopped walking, being taken out of her thoughts, and turned around to see who was calling her name. She had not changed very much since the ball, she was still keeping her red hair at her neck, her skin was still pale and her eyes green. Nothing had changed, she just looked a little bit more adult. Her eyes finally met the figure who called her name from the other end of the corridor bathed in the setting suns. It was a woman, quite old. She waved her hand to tell Melody to join her and after walking up to her, the young woman could see more of her interlocutor: she had long grey hair and looked like she was in her sixties, but then again, on Gallifrey you can never really tell how old is someone just by their looks. She was wearing a dark red and golden dress just as almost everyone in the Capitol, but what was different was that she was wearing a translucent red veil covering her hair.

"Please follow me, you are awaited at the Panopticon." she said, her voice calm.

As she started walking ahead of the girl, Melody frowned a little. She had seen women like her only a very few times before, the first one being on her arrival at the Academy, seventeen years ago when she faced the Untempered Schism. At the time she did not know who they were, but after studying at the Academy she quickly learned that they were members of the Sisterhood of Karn. What did they wanted with her? Why were they on Gallifrey anyway? They were supposed to be on Karn, their planet in the neighbour system.

She followed the woman to the Panopticon, and got placed under the beam of light when arrived in the turquoise room. On the catwalk facing her were the seven women she remembered from her first day, Borusa accompanying them. What was the meaning of all this? She was the only one here, no other young Time Lords were to be seen. What had she done?

"Melody from the House of the Jade Dreamers." Borusa spoke up. "You have been asked to come to the Panopticon at the demand of the High Priestess of the Sisterhood of Karn."

"Me…? But why?" asked the young woman, confused.

The Sisterhood of Karn had been created by the Pythia that used to be on Gallifrey, predicting the future. But after a disagreement she left Gallifrey to go on Karn and founded the Sisterhood, cursing at the same time the Time Lords, preventing them to procreate. All the children born on Gallifrey were not womb-born, they were generated by what was called the Loom. And in fact, even if now it was possible again, womb-born children were forbidden.

"You are a member of the House of the Jade Dreamers." started the woman. Considering she was wearing more jewels than the others, Melody assumed that this one was the High Priestess. "You must know that number of your pairs have joined the Sisterhood by the past, and it is not a coincidence: you see, those born in the Jade Dreamers are often gifted."

"Gifted…?" the girl repeated, still confused.

"They have the gift of the Pythia because it was her own house: they can see the future and all its possibilities. All the paths History can take, everywhere and anywhere in all of Time and Space."

This conversation was taking a turn Melody did not really liked. When she was a little girl, their gaze scrutinising had her made her feel uncomfortable, and they still were now. Composing herself, she retorted:

"But so do most of the Time Lords."

"But not like you."

For a moment, silence was the king of the room.

In her head, Melody was thinking, fast, trying to see where this was going. No one knew about her having considerable foreknowledge and visions, no one except for the Doctor but she knew he had kept the secret.

The members of the Sisterhood were women devoting their life to the worship of the Pythia and her predictions, and to nothing else. And even if the Academy taught them an unbelievable amount of knowledge about every corner of the universe, they did not know much about the Sisterhood who was being very secret.

"The Pythia has appointed you to join the Sisterhood." the Priestess spoke up again, interrupting her thoughts. "According to one of her predictions, you are in possession of a strong gift and are to take the lead of the Sisterhood when her time will come."

"What are you going to do to me?" Melody asked as she tensed up. She could feel this sensation she could not quite name yet hovering around the room, making the air feel, somehow, thicker. She felt danger, and the danger felt more intense as she was not able to reach the Doctor telepathically. And this, _this_ was absolutely wrong. Their link was never cut in the Academy, never. So why was she enclosed in this room?

Looking up at Borusa, their tutor in mind-shielding, she quickly understood that he was the one cutting her from the world.

"Nothing my child, don't be afraid, we are just going to take you to Karn where you will take part in you integration ceremony, and then you'll just live your life contemplating the universe and its possibilities. Believe me, it's a very peaceful life."

"Integration ceremony? What is it?" she asked. She was feeling, deep inside, that this was wrong.

"Well it's nothing really, and almost painless. Once a new sister enters the Sisterhood, we just remove her reproductive organs so she can devote herself to her contemplation."

"Oh, now that sounds nice, really like a lot of fun, I err… May I take a few minutes to think about it?" Melody answered quite sarcastically.

The Sisters exchanged a look.

"You misunderstood my dear." said the Priestess. "You are not to refuse this offer. You have been chosen and you will accompany us to Karn on your new journey. But don't worry, we'll give you a few minutes to say goodbye."

"Oh well, nice, nice…" she mumbled, trying again to reach the Doctor.

Borusa was blocking her, like a concrete wall. However hard she tried to make her way through, he would just make her back away.

"Can I go say goodbye?"

Turning toward Borusa and seeking for a confirmation, the High Priestess said:

"We'll accompany you. Who do you want to see?"

* * *

"Can we at least have some privacy?" Melody said coldly, darting her eyes at Borusa.

He seemed to hesitate but conceded to give her what she asked.

As they reached the great hall opening on the different corridors of the Academy, she saw the Doctor standing in the middle of the hexagon drawn on the beautiful floor. As he turned around to see her arrive with the Sisterhood and Borusa right on her heels, he knew something was wrong. And her face only made him worry more.

She threw herself in his arms, hiding her face in his chest as he instantly wrapped his arms around her. After a few seconds, as she had still not spoken, he raised a hand to rest it on her head, knowing that this way, their conversation would be completely shielded from Borusa.

" _Tell me."_

" _They want to take me to Karn, to enter the Sisterhood, I don't know how but they know I have something more."_ she started. " _I don't want to go! I don't want to leave you, I can't leave you, it wouldn't be right!"_

" _Listen, we don't have much time, here's the plan, you go with them, and I'll… I'll just come and pick you there, okay?"_

" _No, no, no, no! I can't! They want to sterilize me! Please don't let them… Please…"_

At those words she felt him tense up, his hearts racing in his chest.

They were going to hurt her. They were going to take her away from him, where he could not help her and they were going to hurt her, preventing her from having children forever! She was human, this was the way humans made children, they did not have a machine to do it for them if they could not! Even as a plus Time Lord, he was not sure she would be able to use the Loom, and she could never support being deprived from ever having children. And he certainly was not going to allow her getting hurt. Never.

The Doctor pulled away from the hug, looking down at her face, her eyes gleaming from the tears she was holding back, afraid. He coldly looked at the Sisters and Borusa observing them a few steps away before turning his attention back to her. He kissed her forehead and giving her a gentle smile that lit his eyes up with a playful spark, he whispered to her as he grabbed her hand:

"Run."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Run."

As soon as the word left his lips, she was ready, she was always ready to run. Holding her hand tightly, the Doctor led her through the corridors of the Academy, Borusa not very far behind them as he was shouting to get some help and warn the guards.

Ha! Guards on Gallifrey when they were supposed to be pacifists! Thought the Doctor, disapproving the latest decisions of Rassilon being way too oriented toward war to his liking.

They ran and ran until finally they reached the gate of the Academy, not stopping for a second, crossing the amber central place leading to the different parts of the government's towers. Going straight, they entered another copper tower, always faster to escape them. In the hall of the new building he saw the elevator that led below the tower and rushed to it, urging the doors to close. He thought he would definitely need to have something handy in this kind of situation: doors can be your savior or your loss. On the few seconds their journey down under the Capitol lasted, he quickly cupped her face and looked straight into her eyes:

"It's going to be ok, I promise to you that you'll be okay, you won't go to Karn." he said before kissing her forehead as the doors of the elevator opened.

"Now." he started, whispering. "We have to be quick, but not too much: we have to be careful with what's held in there."

They stepped into what looked like a basement or a crypt. Dust on the ground and mist floating around, along with the roots running on the grey walls made this place look very spooky. They could hear people screaming far in the distance, but they knew what those were. A figure turned a corner before disappearing into another, wearing those hats the Doctor disliked so much and moving as though it was sliding on the ground.

The Sliders.

Well, the Cloister Wraith was the correct name.

The guardian entities haunted by the souls of the deceased Time Lords that wandered in the Cloisters, which was the datacentre of Gallifrey: their souls and the informations that could be taken from them and from the prisoners held within the Cloisters provided the Matrix with pieces of information for it to generate prophecies and predictions. Because this was where they were: the Cloisters. Lucky for them, they would leave them alone as long as they were not trying to escape.

The bells were not ringing, meaning the alert had not been given yet, but somehow Melody could feel something, very faintly. Something strange. Something familiar but that, somehow, felt new.

"I've heard there was a secret exit in the Cloisters, if you find it, they let you go." the Doctor said, still whispering.

They had to move quickly before the guards find them, but where to start? The Cloisters was quite a huge bit.

They walked past rusted daleks and decaying weeping angels, the Doctor making sure Melody would stay right next to him and far from the angels that, even weakened, could still move and try to touch her to send her back in time, killing her before she was even born. A clinging echoed to their left, making them look to check if it was not Borusa or the guards. As Melody looked back to her right, she let out a frightened - as well as surprised - scream: one of the weeping angels behind her had moved and was now stretching out its clawed hands toward her, its face silently screaming ferociously as it was claiming her as its dinner.

As he heard her scream, the Doctor had instantly pulled her in his arm, far from the angel. It had been only a few steps away, and with the time she took to look away, she should have been zapped back in time already. Detailing the angel, the Doctor saw the roots - well, in fact the cables sucking out informations from the creature - that held it tightly.

Immobilised.

The angels could not follow them, they could not hurt her as long as they kept their distance.

"Come on, we've got to keep moving." he whispered to her.

As they were walking among the mist, they saw one of the Sliders turn and slide toward them. They stepped away to let it pass by them, but the entity stopped. Its face was only a holoscreen alternatively displaying the faces of the souls trapped in it. Some of them, most of them, screaming. The colorless screen stopped its random zapping to let appear a calm face.

It was a face he did not know and neither did she, but it was the face of a young male, smiling. There was something in his smile, in his eyes, but she could not quite put her finger on it as the other sensation she felt, familiar and new at the same time, was still meddling with her senses, distracting her. She had discovered recently that she had the same sense acuity as her Time Lord friends, and the further she was going in her escape, the more they were becoming acute.

The Slider turned around and slowly went in the opposite direction he came by, stopping a few steps away to look back at them. He was… Waiting…?

The Doctor and Melody exchanged a look and followed the Slider, surprised by his attitude. After a few moments he stopped, looking down. The Doctor wiped away the dust from the ground with his foot to reveal a stone, carved with a big high Gallifreyan circle.

"Oh…"

As they looked up, the Slider had already went away, back at his duty.

So they knelt down and started working on the stone that hid the secret passage, hovering their hands over it to try and unlock the psychic lock.

"What's your plan?" Melody asked the Doctor.

"My plan? Who says I have a plan?"

"Well, you led us down here, you must have one! You always have a plan."

"Do I?" he said, looking up at her, amused as he knew she was talking knowing his future self. He sounded clever in her mouth, cleverer than anyone and she was always looking at him as though he was some kind of hero.

"Yeah, that's what you do…"

"You'll see, no time to explain." he mumbled as he concentrated, sign that he was close to get it opened.

Suddenly they heard the noise of the elevator doors opening. They were coming to get them, to get her.

The Doctor's green eyes met Melody's and he said in her head:

" _Keep them talking."_

She nodded and got up, facing Borusa and the High Priestess with the guards, waiting for them to talk first.

"You have broken many rules, both of you." started Borusa. "Your future will not depend on me as it is the Sisterhood's… But be sure that I'll take care of your case young man!" he said raising his voice for the Doctor to hear him. "You'll never be able to open this lock, it had been made by psychic masters! You're a madman and a fool to think you can do it!"

"Well, we found it, isn't that already proof that we're clever enough?" Melody defiantly said, not mentioning the Slider on purpose. "And my future only belongs to me, not to you, not to the Sisterhood, not to anyone!"

"But you have a gift of incredible power!" said the Priestess. "You could save worlds with your foreknowledge."

"Lies! The Sisterhood doesn't interfere. You just watch, don't try to trick me, apparently you know enough about me to know it doesn't work." Melody cut her off coldly. "My future is mine, as well as my past, and you will never take that from me, never! Because they have been the best moments I have ever lived and will ever live, and they're mine." She said, hammering each word.

"You have a secret, we need to know what it is, it could save or destroy the whole universe."

"I will never tell you, not you, not anyone, not ever."

"You told the Doctor. Why?"

" _I'm in, jump through the trapdoor, I'll get you and it'll close instantly."_ the voice of the Doctor said in her head.

"This is none of your concern." she said. "But a word of advice for you: never let me talk. Bye!" and with a wink, she turned on her heels and in two steps only before they could react, she was at the secret door. Ignoring the darkness of the hole, she jumped.


	8. Chapter 7

**Right! This is the last chapter!**

 **Melody - x.**

* * *

Chapter 7

The diminishing hole of the trapdoor above her lit up her fall that seemed to last for minutes when it really was a few seconds. She was falling but it seemed that she was not creating air displacement, as though she was slowly floating down.

As the shadow of a head started to appear in the aperture, the trapdoor suddenly closed, preventing Borusa, the High Priestess and the guards to follow them. They will never be able to open it again. As Borusa mentioned it, it had been made by psychic masters that no one could outsmart. No one… except the Doctor.

Floating in the darkness, Melody could not see or hear a thing around her, it was just black and empty. Suddenly, out of the void, something made its way to her. It was not coming from the outside though, no, she was still alone in a pitch black darkness, but coming from within. Something calling her, summoning her even, a soft beating echoed in her head, making her heart beat harder as though it was longing for joining the caller that was singing a soothing lullaby. Like a mermaid on an oily sea, like a beacon on a far away shore, the song guided her as she let herself being carried away and, as she opened her eyes again, the dark was not so dark anymore, the light started to surround her, warm and nice until it gently put her down, back on her feet.

She blinked a few times and looked around her to discover her new surroundings: grey walls and floor with red signs bearing old high Gallifreyan on them. It smelled like oil, fuel and metal down there and the orange light was only coming from the outside by small windows just under the ceiling.

As footsteps echoed in the corridor she landed in, a hand grabbed her and pulled her in the shadow of a pillar. The Doctor just against her put a finger on his lips to tell her to keep quiet as two males in dark red working jumpsuits passed by them without noticing them as they were having an animated chat about which clog they should use.

When they were gone, the Doctor and Melody stepped out of the shadows and he led her to an adjacent corridor. Now sure they would hardly be found here, Melody asked:

"What was that when I jumped? Felt like I was floating."

"Just an antigrav bubble, I activated it when you jumped. Couldn't take the risk to have you smashed down to the ground and get us caught, could we?" he said with an amused smile.

"How did you do?"

"Oh, I used that: it's a er… sonic screwdriver, took it in the storage room. Cool eh?"

He was having fun! He was such a child… Well, to be honest, she was having fun too.

She looked around: capsules made of a grey material that was not stone, nor concrete, nor metal, nor plastic were standing there in a line against the wall. They were high cylinders with a door that seemed to slide on the side. She recognised what they were easily, her heart beating faster in excitement. Finally!

"Tardis repair shop…" she started in a whisper, a smile stretching her lips as her eyes wandered on the different capsules before them, sparkling. "We're in the Tardis repair shop! Those are Tardises!"

"Yes! Fancy a trip in Time and Space with me?" he said, awkwardly leaning against a Tardis, trying to look cool. How easily she could picture him in his tweed jacket and bow tie when he was doing that. "Though…" he continued, scratching the back of his neck, "We probably don't have much choice as it's this or getting caught."

As an answer she only nodded with a bright smile: finally! Finally they were going to travel!

"Right then!" he exclaimed, smiling back as he pointed the sonic screwdriver toward the Tardis he was leaning against a few seconds ago, trying to get it open.

As Melody looked around at the other time machines stored here, her eyes met the one in front of her, right next to the one her friend was working on. This one was exactly the same as the others, yet it was completely different. Now matter how hard she tried to take her eyes off of her, she would still be staring at her. The sensation she had felt before and that never quite left her invaded her again, stronger as it pushed her forward. Mesmerised by the grey capsule, she lifted a hand and stretched it toward the door, her eyes becoming deeper as she was getting closer. Her fingertips touched the door and at this contact, golden circles ran briefly on the Tardis, letting appear a hint of blue underneath. A hint of the bluest blue ever.

She closed her eyes and a warm sensation came from within her as the soothing song came back, her hand against the machine making a link, a link that had been missing since her arrival on Gallifrey and that she needed.

It was _her_ … It was _her_ …!

The song faded and she opened her eyes, turning to the Doctor who had his back turned to her as he was working.

"Doctor?" she started. She knew what she had to say.

"Yes, what is it? What do you want?" he said, looking at her.

"Sorry, but you're about to make a very big mistake." she said. As he looked confused she smiled. "Don't steal that one, steal _this_ one. The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun." she added and leant against the Tardis she had touched seconds ago, making new golden circles appear and the door slide open as she did so.

"How did you…" he started, but the alarm of the repair shop started to ring, warning the workers that someone was stealing a faulty Type-40 Tardis.

They both quickly stepped inside, in the all-white console and rushed to the unit. To be honest, Melody was not very familiar with the first console unit settings, but as the Doctor was nervously pushing some buttons and switches, the sensation came back and urged her to push a lever. As she obeyed, the whole Tardis shook, sending both of them to the ground as the time machine took off with her typical groaning sound, as though she had been waiting here for too long that they finally come to steal her and travel through Time and Space.

* * *

The grey capsule was slowly drifting through space, not very far from the Medusa Cascade, safe and out of reach from the Time Lords, only adventure ahead.

The white desktop of the console room not being very much to the liking of the young Doctor, he decided to redecorate it to make it more personal and homely.

As Melody had gone wandering in the depths of the time machine, finding the new corridors looking very much like the future ones - series 7 if she remembered well - she arrived at the console room. He had finished.

Amazed, she stepped in the new console room by climbing the few stairs that led to the platform where the console unit was. The disposition was very similar to the future one, in a thousand years, yet the mood itself was different. Very different.

The material composing the floor, the rails, the stairs, the walls and the unit was a dark but warm shade of grey, almost brown. The roundels covering the lower part of the walls, held in hexagons, were generating a circle of a soft orange light, almost golden. A catwalk was running around the upper part of the walls which were covered with wooden bookshelves, the wood engraved with golden high circular Gallifreyan. Here or there would be two dark red Victorian-style seats with a side table where a floating globe was warmly lighting up the corner. Above the shelves, more golden high circular Gallifreyan writings were circling up the console room.

But the most stunning part was just above. Starting from this line, the entire ceiling was a projection of space, and not any kind of projection of space: it was a projection of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia, her favourite. It swirled around, copper dust making it sparkle as though tiny little particles were caught in her rotation, in the dance of the universe.

And at her center, the dark material was emerging in a surprising but delightful harmony, the time rotor with its three levels and decorated with more Gallifreyan writings, going round at the rhythm of Cassiopeia, just like an extension of the supernova.

Six tubes of orange light in the central glass column was linking the time rotor to the console unit and down to the center of the Tardis. Laying her eyes on the console unit, she detailed the new controls: there was the psychic interface softly glowing with multiple colors, red levers, blue stabilisers, two screens, a brass time rotor throttle that looked like the clog of a complex watch, and many other gilded metal switches and clogs. Lightly touching the console with her fingertips, Melody thought the new desktop looked very… steampunk, somehow. Gallifreyan steampunk, she chuckled.

"What do you think?" a voice spoke up from behind.

She turned around to see the Doctor leaning against a door frame.

"I love it. Especially the ceiling." she said, smiling.

"So, where to now?" he started, walking up to her "Wherever, whenever, all of Time and Space, everything that ever happened or ever will, where do you want to start…?"

"Well, I've been living on Gallifrey for twenty-five years now, I think it's about time you discover my planet: Earth." she said with a smile.

And not taking her eyes off of him, she pushed the brakes lever, flying away to a new, yet familiar, destination.

Earth.

* * *

 **Alright! I really hope you liked that one 'cause it took me a hell of a long time doing all the research part on the Gallifreyan lore!**


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